Drive-Bys

All of a sudden Illinois Dems are acting like Republicans -- and they're leaving my head spinning. Behold:

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is proposing another round of ethics legislation — this time to try to “reign in the influence” of City Hall lobbyists and lift the veil on their influence-peddling activities.

During his first few hours in office, Emanuel signed a series of executive orders that, among other things, aimed to slam shut the “revolving door” that has allowed city employees and mayoral appointees to lobby City Hall. They are now banned from doing so for at least two years after leaving their jobs.

Emanuel also swore off campaign contributions from city lobbyists and insulated city employees from pressure they had felt to give gifts or make political contributions to the mayor, department heads or city supervisors.

More recently, the mayor also posted an unprecedented amount of information about city lobbyists on the internet.Now, he is prepared to go further. At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, the mayor will introduce an ordinance limiting — to $50 per gift and $100 per calendar year — the value of gifts lobbyists can give to city employees.

And good ol' Governor Giveaway is finally reining it in, too:

Gov. Pat Quinn said Tuesday he was prepared to go to court against the unions to defend his decision to cancel pay raises for nearly 30,000 state workers and he repeatedly blamed lawmakers for leaving him no choice by not setting aside the money.

“It’s very clear that the money wasn’t available for the raises and therefore there’s really nothing I could do to clear it up,” Quinn said after a Chicago press conference where he touted a $10 million program to give teens and young people internships and jobs in state parks, park districts and nature centers.

Quinn made the surprise announcement Friday that workers wouldn’t be getting the 2 percent increase they were expecting that day. The state’s largest employee union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said it had no idea Quinn was considering such action.

The raises will save the state about $75 million as it copes with a budget crisis.

And finally Governor Giveaway shocked me with this stunner:

The names of licensed gun owners in Illinois will remain private under a measure Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law today.

The governor approved legislation to prevent Illinois State Police from releasing the names of those who hold or have applied for a Firearm Owner’s Identification card.

Apparently they're listening to the tax paying public here in Illinois. Who knew?
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Quote of the Day #1:

"President Sparklefarts is seriously deranged." -- Second City Cop

(Yes, it made me giggle, although the subject matter did not.)
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Is buying organic produce really better? Apparently that's a yes and a no. Go here to check out which fruits and veggies contain higher levels of pesticides and which ones don't.
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Is it rude to text in at the movies, during a live concert or during a live theater performance?

Those little LED screens can break the spell in a darkened theater, and it doesn't matter that you're not making a sound. "Anything intrusive is a noise, and the light is intrusive," said Charles Coleman, who is the programmer at Facets Multimedia. "Using a phone in a darkened... theater is like lighting a road flare."

In a word -- YES. Turn 'em off, folks.
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Smoke belching from Asia's rapidly growing economies is largely responsible for a halt in global warming in the decade after 1998 because of sulphur's cooling effect, even though greenhouse gas emissions soared, a U.S. study said on Monday.

So we really don't have to go green? All we have to do is encourage Asia to pollute more and that'll stop global warming? Or we could simply burn more coal here in order to save the planet?

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahaha!!!
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Has anyone else out there gotten a bazillion emails of posts to Google+ from friends who are beta testing the site?

Jeepers Creepers! It's like having Facebook invade your email. Ugh.

If anyone knows how to opt out of receiving every brilliant thought that crosses someone's mind out of my gmail, please, please, please let me know.

(No. I will not be signing up for this one.)
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Quote of the Day #2:

"I'm really not a 'What Would Jesus Do?' kind of guy. I'm more of a 'Why Would Jesus Do That?' kind of person." -- My Baby Bro, 7/4/11

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Holy crap. I almost forgot that ADWD lands six days from now... or so they promise. Seems I'm not the only skeptic.

(Fingers crossed.)

Drive-Bys

I've always assumed that if sunspots and solar flares are strong enough to cause magnetic poles to flip and potentially wipe out satellite and electrical grids they also dramatically affect climate. Turns out I was right.
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It's no secret I'm a birth mother, and that my daughter's adoption was arranged at a time when adoptions were closed and original birth certificates were sealed.

Illinois law will change all that come November:

Illinois Department of Public Health officials are bracing for a flood of requests in November when a new law will allow thousands of adult adoptees to obtain their birth certificates.

The law passed in Illinois last year could give some adoptees the names of their birth parents for the first time.

I can make an argument for finally opening those doors... and I can make an argument for keeping them closed.

Women who long ago made the choice to give their child a stable home with a loving parent or loving parents did so for all sorts of reasons. Some of us kept our secret and rarely, if ever, talked about it. Some of us have been open about it from day one. I refuse to judge any of them.

Here's the thing -- if you are one of the sisterhood who made this choice, you have another choice to make:

Birth parents can remain anonymous and have their names redacted from any released birth certificate by filling out a form by Nov. 1.

I've been very, very lucky, but I can understand how this could be a difficult choice. Whatever your choice, I stand behind you.
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If the Divine Miss Marilyn were still alive, I'd have to get her the world's most expensive cat toy:


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I love it when karma works:



Next time I'm in Austin, I'm heading straight for the Alamo Drafthouse!
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Clearly Lendle listens to its users! If you're a Kindle owner, I highly recommend this free service.
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Drive-Bys

Giggle of the Day:

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Facebook once again is rolling out something you should know about... and probably don't.

Check your settings, m'kay?
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You mean the glaciers aren't shrinking after all??? (Global warming. It's a beautiful thing.)
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Chocolate-Peanut Spread that not only looks delicious, but is incredibly easy to make.
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What complete idiocy is this?

Moviegoers planning to see “The King’s Speech” after the Oscars might see a different version than what has already been released.

Executive producer Harvey Weinstein is mulling an idea to re-edit the R-rated movie — which received 12 Oscar nominations Tuesday, more than any other film — to get a different rating, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Weinstein, who said he is discussing the idea with director Tom Hooper, is aiming for a PG-13 or even a PG. The move would be part of a marketing strategy intended to up the film’s appeal to a broader swath of moviegoers.

Puh-leeze! Go to the "R" rated version or you'll miss half the fun. (Just ask the Mad Minnesotan.)
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The most sensible (and conservative) article ever to grace the pages of the Chicago Tribune can be found here.

6. We can’t be dependent on the government.

Remember the immortal words of President Kennedy: “Ask not what your country can do for you ... ” Plan for independence, because there is no way our country can take care of all of us as we age. Of course, America has always taken care of the neediest among us, and will always try to do so. But will we have the resources and the growth to provide for everyone? Or will we resort to debt and money printing? And how long will that work?

These past few years should have taught us that government, under both political parties, can’t solve all our problems or fix all our economic suffering. It can only provide the framework for growth that comes from people at every level of our society.

Who knew?
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When even a regular union guy doesn't back the Chicago Teachers Union, you know the public school system is broken:

Bryant Coulter is a firefighter who considers himself a pro-union guy, but prefers non-union charters schools. “I saw five fights while waiting to talk to an assistant principal at the CPS high school my son went to,” said Coulter. The difference was “night and day” after switching to charter schools, he said.

The current head of the teachers union is an asshat, BTW:

Charter schools are just a marketing scheme trying to sell a product that doesn’t work — just like a weight loss gimmick she once fell for. “Guess what?” said Lewis. “I’m still a fat girl.”

Guess what, Karen? Apparently you're half wrong -- you're still fat, I agree.
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The Rahm Emanuel Hokey Pokey is finally over: The Illinois Supreme Court says he can put is left foot in.

Ear Worm of the Day?



That's what it's all about!